Chapter 6 - 6
Chapter 6:
I should have guested with this white warm coat of mine that we would be living in very cold places, but still the view leaves me astonished.
We are at the lowest islands of the lot for they have less of that hot core that keeps these colossal rocks afloat, and in such altitude is actually a surprise that the other islands are not as cold as this one, in a perpetual winter snow state.
We have to cross over the cloud river to get there, no railings on the side as the metal bridge looks more like loosen plates put on top of the long chain that swing with the wind and curves with the long distance between one island to the other.
I'm not afraid of heights but even I raise my eyebrows at that.
Mother, without thinking twice, steps over the metal, her body making the passage look even smaller to me, but without fear she advances; and of course she would, she can fly, one misstep and she only needs to open her wings to flap back around.
For me, however, is quite different.
Mother stops a few steps further in when she notices that I have not been following, and seeing how I stared at the bridge and bellow makes her quickly realize the problem.
"Oh, love, is alright, if you want mommy can carry you with her beak." She says, turning back to face me, but her statement only makes me frown.
Carry me on her beak? What kind of bird cat hybrid I'm if I can't even walk this metal bridge? No railing, sure, but I have no place to fear it now.
So instead of waiting for her I puff my chest out and trot the first step on the structure, my leopard padded paws making no sound as I advance, and with a cool attitude I reach my mother's side.
"That's my cute baby boy, so brave and strong."
Chirp. 'Please stop, you are embarrassing me mom.'
Almost in a mechanical walk I do not stop on my step, trotting one after the other, so once a strong wind pushes the bridge to the side and us with it, forcing us to stop while giving me a very good look of the extreme soaring height we are at, I end up freezing in place.
This time my mother grabs me by the back of the neck without asking, probably thinking that I had enough adventure for one day, reaching the end of the bridge without worries as I start to feel a little sluggish and tired from running around so much, letting her carry me in the end si we can reach our home faster, but still my curiosity keeps me stubbornly awake so I can observe around our home.
In this always snow heavy place, where the grass has never grown and the water never warmed up, there are some unique and intriguing plants and animals about, for example the apparent fallen tree is actually a tree that grows upwards only to twist and turn around back to the ground, for instead of frail branches that could break with the weight of the snow its leaves grow directly from the trunk, red, orange and brown, almost as if in permanent autumn, making huge arches over our heads.
There are white horses with fur on their paws and big wings that are closed, curving alongside their bodies to keep them warm as they eat the wood out of those strange trunk trees, with or without the leaves, while some small hopping horned white rabbits would dig the snow to find some soft roots to chew, while having long two tailed silver foxes hearing for their squeaks on top of the snow, fluffy ears moving in different directions.
As I watch I try to do the same, realizing that I can pin point exactly where the sounds are coming from much better like this, but my reaction earns me another chuckle from my mother, that could not say anything beyond that while she carried me with her beak.
"We are here." She says while putting me on the ground, but it takes me some time to find out where here is since it just looks like every other part of the forest we have been to.
Only that I had not looked up... until now.
There is an intersection of those thick curved trees where three of them meet, high up above, but this empty space in the middle is filled up with white branches from the white red leafy trees surrounding us and, as I climb the curved part of the trunk, following right behind mother, I came to realize just how tall these strange trees curve.
As if showing how is done my mother does not use her two pair of wings, but instead walks the curved path with me, these curved truck being bigger than the metal bridge we just passed over.
Only then we arrive at the center where a huge nest is rested, but not a thin normal one I soon realize, but one that has a hiding place inside for me to stay while mother sleeps on top, just to show how strong and well made this nest is, must have taken a lot of time for her to build it for us, lots of trunks and branches, especially while doing this all alone.
I yawn just in time to reach the highest and, while my mother curves her body in a semi-circle on top of the nest, over the pieces of trunk that sealed the top part from the rain, she shows me with her long fluffy tail the hidden entrance to the lower part where I would be safe from the weather and most predators.
With one last drink of her warm milk, and after such a full day, I'm more than ready to go to bed, so without further ado I simply pitter patter with my big paws and wiggle my way inside, the small place feeling cozy as I hug my tail to sleep.
This chapter upload first at NovelBin.Com